


I am broken and raised and built anew

by ladymal



Series: I am broken and raised and built anew [1]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-22
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-22 13:51:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6081762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladymal/pseuds/ladymal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he failed and she died, he never thought that he would see her again. That his existence would ever be filled with anything but hollow grief. But he did and it was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I am broken and raised and built anew

It was on the first day of spring that he saw her.

When the weather permitted, Solas would sometimes set up his easel in the park to help pass the long hours of this quickened world and that day, it had. The sun had been warm, the skies clear, and a gentle, salty breeze had come in from the sea to cool his skin. It had been…pleasant and he hadn’t been unhappy to be there but he’d ended up refusing everyone that had asked for a portrait and his landscape had been nothing but a few lines on the canvas after hours of work. He had given up and begun to pack his things when she’d walked by and the world went still.

Her dark hair was straight rather than curly, her left arm whole, and she wore clothing more fitting for this modern age but he knew her as easily as if the years had vanished into nothing. As if the unreachable Fade had returned to bring him a waking dream.

He stared after her, frozen and hardly daring to breath. It isn’t possible. _She—You—It is a mistake_. It had happened before. With others. There were always differences that he had missed at first glance—the nose was different or the eyes tilted down too much or the voice was completely wrong—and he’d realize his mistake. That they weren't—

The woman had stopped a few feet beyond where he stood and was looking back at him. He turned away, his heart thudding in his ears.

“Hello.”

The voice was familiar, one that had been silenced over a millennium ago and it stole the breath from his lungs almost like a kiss. His hands trembled and he busied them with putting down his paintbrush and fiddling with his things before he found the courage to look at her. She was smiling her small smile that had once been such a rare treasure but there was no recognition there. No love or suffering or grief. Only tentative warmth to a stranger, unclouded by memory.

 _I am no one to her._ His throat felt thick and he did not know if it was from pain or relief.

“Vh—” He cleared the word away quietly. “Hello.”

There was a moment of awkward silence as he stared and she shifted her shoulders in a motion that wasn’t quite a shrug.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “but have we met before? I saw you and I got the strangest feeling. Like you’re someone I’ve known my—well, like we’ve met.”

“We may have.” His chest tightened around his breath. “In another life, perhaps, but not this one.”

Even now it seemed, she had no patience for such ideas because she quirked her eyebrows and he couldn’t help his smile at her skepticism.

“When we were both a pair of stick insects, you mean?” she asked.

She laughed slightly at her own joke and the sound of it…Throaty like it had traveled through the very earth to reach her lips. His eyes burned and he blinked.

“Oh.” Her laughter died and she frowned when his own expression fell. “You don’t really believe in that, do you? In reincarnation?”

“I…It’s a recent change of opinion. After many hard lessons, I’ve finally learned how rare it is for a person to know as much as they believe they do.”

The cool breeze stirred a lock of silky hair from her braid and he watched her tuck it behind her ear as she considered him. Most of her scars were missing except for the one that skipped from cheek to chin. Faint but there.

“That is true,” she said. “I’m sorry I laughed.”

Solas dragged his eyes back to hers. “Apologies are unnecessary. I was not offended.”

Her chin lifted with stubbornness and it pulled the smile back to his face.

“I’ve bothered you and insulted you. I can at least apologize for it.”

“As you wish.” A beat of hesitation— _You are a selfish fool. Do not do this_ —before he gestured to the simple, fold-up stool that he reserved for clients. “Would you like your portrait done?”

She blinked. “I’ve no money for it.”

“Only the pleasure of your company is required.”

It was her turn to stare, to search for something within him, and the weight of it brought a faint warmth to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. He fought the urge to shift his weight. When she ducked her head into a nod and sat down, a knot in his stomach unwound.

“I didn’t catch your name,” she said.

After a glance her way, he began taking out his paints and preparing a new canvas. “Nor I yours.”

“It’s Saehin.” A brow quirked. “Your turn.”

He breathed, taking in this woman—his vhenan—who had only minutes ago thought to be absent forever.

“Solas,” he said quietly. “My name is Solas.”

“Solas.” The word rolled over her tongue the same manner it had a lifetime before. Low and gentle and full of things she almost never could say. And she smiled, bright and full. “I’m very happy to meet you.”


End file.
